Stewart B. Herman

Representative Experience

• Represent one of the world's leading aircraft leasing companies since its founding in a variety of transactions including portfolio acquisitions using debt and equity funds, portfolio dispositions, and operating leases.
• Exclusive counsel to a US fund as equity investor in cross-border structured aircraft lease financings featuring senior and junior amortizing and nonamortizing bank debt and equity notes. Transactions include:
  • Sale-leaseback of four B777-200 aircraft to a major Asian airline.
  • Sale of E-Notes in structured financing of four Boeing B737-800 aircraft on lease to a major Asian airline.
  • Purchase and structured refinancing of one B777-300ER aircraft on lease to Air France.
  • Purchase and structured refinancing of two Airbus A330-300 aircraft on lease to Hong Kong Airlines.
  • Purchase and structured refinancing of two Airbus A330-300 aircraft on lease to a major Asian airline.
  • Purchase and structured refinancing of another two Airbus A330-300 aircraft on lease to a major Asian airline.
  • Purchase and structured refinancing of three Airbus A330-200 aircraft on lease to Turkish Airlines.
  • Structured sale-leaseback of four new Boeing B737-800 aircraft with a major Asian airline.
  • Sale of E-Notes in structured financing of four Boeing B777-200 aircraft on lease to a major Asian airline.
  • Structured sale-leaseback of four new Airbus A320-200 aircraft with a major Asian airline.
• Represented a US private equity fund in the purchase through a new leasing company of 51 Boeing 737 classics plus 40 spare CFM56-3B1 engines from Southwest Airlines, and the onward leasing and sale of the aircraft, airframes and engines.
• Represented a US leasing company in the purchase and ABS refinancing of 14 Boeing and Airbus aircraft subject to existing leases to eight airlines outside the United States.
• Represented the liquidator of the portfolio of a German landesbank in the sale of four loans, each secured by one Embraer E190 aircraft in the fleet of Republic Airways.
• Represented a German bank in the workout of loans secured by four Airbus A340-500 aircraft coming off lease to Emirates.
• Represented a US investment bank as equity investor in the sale-leaseback of aircraft for American Airlines.
• Represented arranger in the proposed securitization of more than 40 Eximbank-guaranteed aircraft loans.
• Represented an Irish leasing company in the refinancing of one Airbus A320-200 aircraft on lease to Indigo.
• Represented an on-demand airline in the pre-delivery payment and acquisition financing of approximately 30 new Bombardier Challenger 300 and Cessna Citation X jets.
• Represented a syndicate led by a Swiss bank in a warehouse financing for AerCap.
• Represented a syndicate led by a Swiss bank in a warehouse financing for Avolon.
• Represented a major international airline in negotiating a series of flight-hour-based engine maintenance agreements with GE, Rolls-Royce, MTU, and Pratt & Whitney, covering the off-wing maintenance of the airline's entire engine fleet.
• Represented the leasing-company subsidiary of a US industrial company in the restructuring in bankruptcy of the long-term leveraged leases of approximately 100 Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft on lease to American Airlines. Also represented client in litigation over tax-indemnity claims and the trading of unsecured claims against the lessee.
• Represented US investment bank in the trading of allowed claims in US airline bankruptcies.
• Represented several US and international leasing companies in a variety of aircraft transactions including aircraft sales and dispositions, secured loans, and operating leases.
• Represented major US and international airlines in a variety of aircraft transactions including sale-leasebacks, operating leases, securitizations, export-credit-agency financings, secured bank loans, and aircraft sales.